Lecrae says Charlie Kirk's call to ban him from church is ‘racist rhetoric’
Hip-hop artist and Christian speaker Lecrae recently responded to Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative student group Turning Point USA, who said the rapper "should never be allowed" to perform in Christian churches because he campaigned for Raphael Warnock, a pro-choice Democrat.
"I don't think people see the amount of racist rhetoric that comes out they mouth when they try to cancel,” the Reach Records founder said on the Higher Learning Podcast with Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay.
Referring to Kirk, he continued, "You represent one of the largest majority white institutions and organizations out there and you're saying, 'Don't invite this black man into another church again?' All the white supremacy wrapped up in that is crazy that they don't even see it. That's wild to me."
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Lecrae was a featured performer at a December 2020 event in Atlanta called "Get Out the Early Vote Rally & Concert," which was hosted by Democrats Warnock and Jon Ossoff before Georgia's runoff elections. While there, the artist stressed the importance of one’s freedom to vote.
During an appearance at Pastor Jack Hibbs’ Calvary Chapel Chino the week of the inauguration of President Joe Biden, Kirk, author of The MAGA Doctrine, said, “In my personal opinion, [Lecrae] should never be allowed to perform at another church after advocating for Raphael Warnock.”
Stressing the issue of abortion, Kirk further commented to The Christian Post, "While I hold no personal animosity toward Lecrae—and would be happy to discuss the issue with him privately—the scriptures are incredibly clear that we are 'fearfully and wonderfully made' and that God 'formed us in our inmost being' and 'knit us together in our mother’s womb.'
"Senator Warnock calls himself a 'pro-choice pastor' and that makes him complicit in the genocide of nearly 400,000 black babies that are killed every year in America alone. Lecrae nevertheless decided to publicly campaign for this man and I find that morally incompatible with our Christian faith. I stand by what I said."
Lecrae called Kirk's comments "sad."
"First of all, sad that you so connect the church to a political party, that a person who votes opposite of you, or you perceive that they voted opposite of you, is now some sort of heretic or the Antichrist," the artist said.
He further noted that 96% of black people vote progressive while 86% of white people vote conservative because of their different worldviews and experiences. “That's just America,” he stated.
"What it tells me is you haven't done the research to understand why black people vote in the way they do and you taking this higher moral ground as it pertains to pro-life as if babies in a womb are more important than Tamir Rice outside the womb,” he added, referring to a 12-year-old boy who was shot by a Cleveland police officer in 2014.
“You got the higher moral ground? How about we care about it all and we'll make the decisions in the midst of everything going on that we feel like best suits our situation and our circumstances. Give people the freedom to do that.”
The I Am Restored author said ultimately, Kirk cannot cancel God's call on his life.
“Even on a spiritual level, it's like bro, who are you? You can't cancel God's plans. If God wants to use me, He’s gonna use me. What are you talking about? You can't stop the hand of God. If God don't want to use me, then cool. But if He do, He do,” he said.
